easier said than done
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easier said than done
It is easy to say that one can or will do something, but is much more difficult to actually do it. You vowed to double the amount of last year's donations? Easier said than done. I know you're confident in your idea, but starting a company from the ground up is easier said than done.
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2015 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.
easier said than done
Cliché said of a task that is easier to talk about than to do. Yes, we must find a cure for cancer, but it's easier said than done. Finding a good job is easier said than done.
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
easier said than done
Also, more easily said than done. Describing something more readily talked about than accomplished, as in Keeping the cats off the sofa is easier said than done. This expression also was put as sooner or better said than done . Today, the variant ( more easily) is still heard less often than the original. [c. 1450]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
easier said than done
COMMON If you say that something is easier said than done, you mean that although it sounds like a good idea, you think it would be difficult to actually do it. `If you're not happy with yourself, then change.' Easier said than done, Alex thought. The alternative option is to scrap the unwanted machines, and use the metal for some other purpose. But this, too, is easier said than done.
Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed. © HarperCollins Publishers 2012
easier said than done
more easily talked about than put into practice.Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017
ˌeasier ˌsaid than ˈdone
(saying) it is easier to suggest doing something than actually to do it: ‘All you have to do is climb a ladder and mend the roof.’ ‘Easier said than done — I’m terrified of heights!’Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017
easier said than done
Describing something that is more readily talked about than accomplished. This expression dates back as far as the fifteenth century, when it appeared in several sources, including the Vulgate (Latin) Bible. It was sometimes put as sooner or better said than done; the latter appears in John Heywood’s 1546 collection of English proverbs.
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer Copyright © 2013 by Christine Ammer